Taime Downe (; born Gustave Molvik on September 29, 1964) is an American musician best known as the lead singer of the 1980s

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

glam metal Glam metal (also known as hair metal or pop metal) is a subgenre of heavy metal that features pop-influenced hooks and guitar riffs, upbeat rock anthems, and slow power ballads. It borrows heavily from the fashion and image of 1970s glam r ...

band

Faster Pussycat Faster Pussycat is an American hard rock/glam metal band from Los Angeles, formed in 1985 by vocalist Taime Downe, guitarists Brent Muscat and Greg Steele and bassist Kelly Nickels. The group has since gone through numerous lineup changes lea ...

Life and career

In high school, Downe formed a band named The Bondage Boys, and going under the stage name Vaun Hammer, he released a song with this band titled "The Loser" on '' Northwest Metalfest'', a compilation featuring 10 Seattle-area bands.Northwest Metalfest Discogs
/ref> Sometime after this, he left Seattle for San Diego and then moved on to Los Angeles. Downe worked for

Retail Slut Retail Slut was a clothing store in Los Angeles, California that specialized in punk, goth, and underground fashions. Founded in 1983 by Helen O'Neill, the store heavily supported the underground scenes such as the S&M, drag and rave communi ...

in Hollywood and ran the stage lights at the Troubadour. Magnus Walker of Serious Clothing accidentally got his start when, walking into Retail Slut, Downe asked where he had got his pants. Although Walker had bought them in Hollywood for less than $10, he replied England, and Downe asked him to source 8 pairs at a price of $25 to sell in the store.Archived a
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Wayback Machine
In 1985, he formed the band Faster Pussycat. The five-member band released their debut album in 1987. Faster Pussycat were signed to Elektra Records and sold over 500,000 copies of 1989's ''

Wake Me When It's Over ''Wake Me When It's Over'' is the second album by Faster Pussycat, released in 1989. The band moved away from the glam metal of their first album to a more blues-influenced sound. Music videos were produced for "Poison Ivy" and "House of Pain". ...

''. They toured with Y&T,

Ace Frehley Paul Daniel "Ace" Frehley (; born April 27, 1951) is an American musician, best known as the original lead guitarist and co-founding member of the hard rock band Kiss. He invented the persona of The Spaceman (a.k.a. Space Ace) and played wit ...

Alice Cooper Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon Furnier, February 4, 1948) is an American rock singer whose career spans over five decades. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusions, including pyrotechnics, guillot ...

, Mötley Crüe,

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David Lee Roth David Lee Roth (born October 10, 1954) is an American rock singer. Best known for his wild, energetic stage persona, he was the original lead vocalist of the hard rock band Van Halen across three stints, from 1974 to 1985, in 1996 and again fro ...

, and others. Their next album '' Whipped!'', released in 1992, was less popular. The band broke up that year, with Downe's moving to Chicago to work with

Pigface Pigface is an American industrial rock supergroup formed in 1990 by Martin Atkins and William Rieflin. History Pigface was formed from Ministry's ''The Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Taste'' tour, which produced the '' In Case You Didn't Feel ...

. Downe also sang backing vocals on

Skid Row A skid row or skid road is an impoverished area, typically urban, in English-speaking North America whose inhabitants are mostly poor people " on the skids". This specifically refers to poor or homeless, considered disreputable, downtrodden or fo ...

's 1992 cover of the

Ramones The Ramones were an American punk rock band that formed in the New York City neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens, in 1974. They are often cited as the first true punk rock group. Despite achieving a limited commercial appeal in the United ...

' "Psycho Therapy". Downe returned to Los Angeles shortly after and put together the

industrial rock Industrial rock is a fusion genre that fuses industrial music and rock music. It initially originated in the 1970s, and drew influence from early experimental and industrial acts such as Cromagnon, Throbbing Gristle, Einstürzende Neubauten a ...

band

The Newlydeads The Newlydeads were an industrial rock band founded by Faster Pussycat singer Taime Downe. At one time or another, The Newlydeads also featured Taime Downe's Faster Pussycat bandmates: guitarist Xristian Simon, bassist Danny Nordahl, and drummer ...

for which he wrote and produced. Around 1998, he opened his own club, named The Pretty Ugly Club, with co-owner JD Terziu, and the club achieved the same level of success as The Cathouse, the club Downe had run with

Riki Rachtman David Alan "Riki" Rachtman (born June 15, 1962) is an American television and radio personality. He is best known for his association with the late 1980s and early-to-mid 1990s hard rock and heavy metal scene, hosting MTV's ''Headbangers Ball'' f ...

. Taime has also been the promoter of other clubs in Los Angeles, such as Thunder Pussy and Pretty Pussy. He also was the DJ at

Metal Skool Steel Panther is an American comedic glam metal band from Los Angeles, California. They are known for their profane and humorous lyrics as well as their exaggerated onstage pastiche of the stereotypical glam metal lifestyle. History Metal Sh ...

with

Josh Richman Josh Eric Richman (born May 21, 1965) is an American actor, writer, producer, and director. He is best known for his work with Guns N' Roses. Career His first acting job was a minor role in the science fiction television show '' V: The Ser ...

as the MC. The Newlydeads released a remix CD titled ''

Re-Bound The Newlydeads were an industrial rock band founded by Faster Pussycat singer Taime Downe. At one time or another, The Newlydeads also featured Taime Downe's Faster Pussycat bandmates: guitarist Xristian Simon, bassist Danny Nordahl, and drumme ...

'', and in 2001, released ''Dead End''. The same year, Downe reunited for a tour with original Faster Pussycat members Brent Muscat and Greg Steele joining him. The re-formed band opened for

Poison Poison is a chemical substance that has a detrimental effect to life. The term is used in a wide range of scientific fields and industries, where it is often specifically defined. It may also be applied colloquially or figuratively, with a broa ...

in 2002. In 2006, he released ''

Dreams from a Dirt Nap ''Dreams from a Dirt Nap'' is a compilation album by the band The Newlydeads containing 18 songs recorded between the years 1997 and 2001. Stylistically, the tracks range from industrial rock to gothic rock and electronica. In addition to a numb ...

'', a Newlydeads best-of album, in May, and the Faster Pussycat album ''

The Power and the Glory Hole ''The Power and the Glory Hole'' is an album by Faster Pussycat released on July 13, 2006, by Full Effect Records. The songs mix industrial rock with the band's traditional sound. Singer Taime Downe was the only member returning from previous Fa ...

'' in July.

References

External links

Official Newlydeads website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Downe, Taime Faster Pussycat members The Newlydeads members 1964 births Living people American rock singers Musicians from Seattle Singers from Washington (state) Pigface members 20th-century American singers 21st-century American singers 20th-century American male singers 21st-century American male singers